The government left quickly.
The moment the glass doors hissed shut, the reception area fell back into a heavy silence. For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then Mira leaned across the desk, breaking the tension.
"...So," she said, tapping the tablet the officer had left behind. "Are we officially government property now?"
Kaida leaned against the wall, her expression thoughtful. "Strategic national resource," she corrected.
"Same thing," Mira shot back.
Garrick stretched his arms, his joints popping. "I don't like it."
"No one does," Seris said calmly, though there was a hint of weariness in her voice.
Orion flipped another page in his book. "They didn't expect us to like it."
Lucien stood with his arms folded, staring at the door. "They expected us to cooperate."
Kaida tilted her head. "And will we?"
Lucien didn't answer right away. Across the room, Kairos was staring intently at the tablet—at the authority registration records, the raid eligibility, and the operational status. His name sat right at the bottom of the list.
Kairos Arvane
Authority: Empedocles
Rank: S-
Operational Status: Pending
His fingers curled into a slight fist. Lucien noticed.
"You're not being evaluated right now," Lucien said.
Kairos looked up quickly, caught off guard. "I know."
Lucien walked over and reached out, ruffling Kairos's hair lightly. "You'll fight when you're ready."
Kairos blinked, his shoulders dropping just a fraction. "...Okay."
Mira leaned over Garrick's shoulder. "That's two head pats today."
Kairos groaned, stepping back. "Please stop counting."
"Never."
Garrick gave him a gentle, heavy thump on the shoulder. "Consider it encouragement."
Orion glanced up briefly from his reading. "...At this rate, we're going to pat him bald."
Kairos buried his face in his hands. "This guild is unbearable."
Kaida smirked. "You're still here."
"...Unfortunately."
__
Upstairs, on the third floor, Nox was back at the strategy table. The silver shard rested quietly in his palm: the Fragment of Unwritten Fate.
He still couldn't feel what it was supposed to do, but something about it felt... unfinished. Like it was waiting for a signal that hadn't been sent yet.
The door opened and Lucien stepped inside. "They're already planning the next gate response."
Nox didn't look up. "KAMB?"
Lucien nodded. "They're going to assign strike teams."
Nox turned the shard slightly, watching the light catch its edges. "They won't move fast enough."
Lucien leaned against the table, studying him. "You sound certain."
Nox's eyes lifted briefly. "I've seen what happens when governments try to organize around gates."
Lucien let the statement hang in the air for a moment. "You talk about it like you've watched it before."
Nox didn't offer an answer, and Lucien didn't push him for one. After a beat, Lucien exhaled. "...We'll deal with it."
Nox nodded slightly, but his gaze drifted toward the skyline. Somewhere out there, the next gate was already taking shape.
__
Across the city, inside the newly established KAMB headquarters, Director Adrian Cross was juggling several monitors at once: authority reports, international data, and System logs. The world was moving faster than the protocols could be written.
One screen displayed the list he had been staring at all morning. Lucien Ardent. Elias Verdan. Kaida Myrr.
Cross rubbed his temples, the weight of the office already showing. "Where is Regulated Order now?"
"The training facility," an assistant answered.
"And Elias?"
"On his way."
Cross exhaled slowly. "Good."
If Aurora Covenant represented independence, then Regulated Order would represent stability. Or at least, that was the hope.
__
Meanwhile, several floors above the operations center, Cassian Verity stood alone in a quiet office. The city stretched out behind him, but he wasn't looking at the view. Instead, his focus was entirely on the data tablet in his hands.
He went through the Aurora Covenant records again. Energy signatures. Authority metrics. Everything matched what the System had reported. Lucien. Kaida. Seris. Garrick. Orion. Mira. Kairos. They all fell within the expected ranges.
Except one.
Nox Caelis. Authority classification: Unregistered
A System interaction anomaly. Cassian's eyes narrowed slightly as he zoomed in on the data. The numbers weren't just wrong—they were incomplete. For the first time since the awakening began, Cassian Verity had found a variable he couldn't quite measure.
"...Interesting."